Thursday, February 11, 2016
For Immediate Release

MITS Announces 2016 Summer Professional Development Institutes

Each day includes a balance of indoor, classroom-based components and outdoor field experiences. Daily activities include nature walks, behinds-the-scenes tours of research labs and field work in beautiful locations. All institutes emphasize hands-on, minds-on inquiry-based education. Participants will have the opportunity to hear from scientists, engineers, and other practitioners in the field, and engage in investigations that can be added to your classroom toolbox.

MITS offers two different types of Summer Institutes: a one-week on-site institute or a hybrid model which includes an on-line course component. Both start with an introductory half-day on a Saturday in June followed by a one-week on-site experience in one of the first two weeks after July 4. In the one-week model you can choose to earn either 40 PDPS or 3 graduate credits and 67.5 PDPs. The hybrid model offers an additional 4 weeks of online work which complements the on-site experience and content and is flexible with your schedule. You can decide to earn 50 PDPs or 4 graduate credits and 90 PDPs.

Each regional institute has a different focus and target audience.

For Middle and High School Educators:

• North Shore Region: Research and Resiliency: Exploring the Ways Local Ecosystems are Responding to Global Change
  You don’t want to miss the opportunity to investigate how scientists and land managers collaborate to improve the health of coastal ecosystems! In this week-long institute, we’ll roll up our sleeves to collect and analyze data from rocky shores, marshes, and tidal flats of the North Shore.

For Grades 3-8 Educators:

• Cape Cod: Movers and Shakers: Exploring Earth Science and Curriculum Frameworks in the Coastal and Marine Environment  
  This one-week institute will explore the Science and Engineering Practices and the instruments used to study the unique flora, fauna and geology of Cape Cod. Activities in this institute include visiting a marine animal hospital and getting your feet wet to practice core sampling techniques in a tidal marsh.

• Metro-South Region: Feathers, Rocks, Flights, Wildlife and Shocks: The Importance of Human Connections With Nature
  Feeling disconnected from the world around you? It’s time to reconnect with Mother Nature! This one-week institute will highlight ways humans impact and are impacted by the natural world, even in their own backyard, and will examine the physical, chemical and biological factors at play.

• Merrimack Region: Rivers, Renewables and Revolutions: How Science Understanding Informs Innovation in Engineering
  Using the living laboratory of the Merrimack River Watershed, this hybrid institute will investigate waterways as resources for renewable energy, examples of advancement in engineering, and site of ecological research. Activities include building your own mill-and-canal model, testing water samples and a boat tour of Lowell National Historical Park. All aboard!

• Southeast Region: To the Moon and Back: Engaging Your Students in Earth and Space Science Through Inquiry
  Blast off into inquiry-based learning in this hybrid institute! Learn how technology, engineering and mathematics are used to study planet Earth, outer space, and the fascinating connections between the two. You’ll walk away with knowledge and resources that are out of this world!

Visit our 2016 Summer Professional Development Institutes page for more details and to register.